Since becoming GM, Omar Khan has put as much time and effort into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line as possible. For the first time in team history – and they’ve been drafting since the NFL’s first edition in 1936 – the Steelers selected first-round offensive tackles in two consecutive drafts. In 2024, they spent their top two picks on the front line and a third when the fourth round was over. They also found a veteran, LG Isaac Seumalo, and paid big money to get him.
Pittsburgh started the summer stronger and with a bigger offensive line than it has had in a long time. And that’s a good thing. Because as the NFL shows, that depth can quickly be put to the test.
The Steelers have been incredibly lucky with injuries on the offensive line the last two years. In 2022, Pittsburgh was the only team to have all five starters on offense for all 17 games. Last year, James Daniels, Isaac Seumalo and Mason Cole didn’t miss a single game, while Dan Moore Jr. started all but one game. The only change was Chukwuma Okorafor, who was on the bench and not injured, and Broderick Jones finished the year unscathed.
This summer is different. Troy Fautanu sprained his medial collateral ligament in the season opener, while Broderick Jones played despite “multiple” injuries. Nate Herbig is out for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff. Dylan Cook is on the short-term injured list with a knee injury, and it’s possible Seumalo will join him. That’s more injuries now than the Steelers have seen on offense in the last two years. And it’s not even September yet.
But that’s the NFL. Nobody feels sorry for Pittsburgh, and nobody should. But the Steelers haven’t been dealt a hand in a long time. Now the young guys need to get their act together. And fast. Zach Frazier seems like the right choice for the center position, but he still has to prove it in the regular season. Fautanu will fortunately be healthy for Week 1, although it would make sense for the team to bench him to start the year after he missed valuable practices over the summer. The left guard is one to watch out for. Until Seumalo returns, Spencer Anderson or Mason McCormick will step in. It sounds like Pittsburgh will let them duke it out, as both are playing well this summer and deserve the chance.
No matter who the team selects, it can’t get to the point where the team misses Seumalo too much. Pittsburgh’s offensive lines have gotten off to a slow start the past two seasons. Given the difficult schedule and division, there’s no warming up to the year. No waiting until the second half of the season, as there was in 2022 and 2023, for the group to figure things out. That mission is harder with a younger and banged-up front five. But the mission remains the same.
